Kunoichi Reborn
by Society of Perception
Summary: Inuyasha Naruto xover. Sakura, Ino, Tenten and Hinata have had enough of being called weak and pathetic. Their salvation comes in the form of a woman named Higurashi Kagome who promises to make them all stronger. NarSakSas InoShika TenNej HinKib KagKak
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One: Leaving**

Sakura punched a tree, again and again until her knuckles started to bleed. Beside her Ino was attacking a training dummy with venom. With one mighty kick, the whole wood structure splintered, sending bits of wood raining all around her. Tenten and Hinata were sparring with each other, their teeth bared. Their movements were quick sure, but not quick enough.

"I'm too weak. That's all my so-called comrades could say." Sakura gritted out, punching harder.

"I was too slow. Too stupid. Too frail." Ino could only state as tears ran down her face in small rivulets.

"I was told I was too pathetic. By the man I was in love with." Tenten almost yelled, attacking Hinata as if she could get back at her teammate if she destroyed the petite blue-haired girl.

Hinata didn't mind. She too was attacking with abandon, not caring if she got hurt because at least she could deal with that pain. "My family attacked me and left me to die. I was lucky that Sakura happened to pass by or else I would have died. Everyone called me weak and a disgrace to the Hyuuga name."

All four girls stopped and sobbed silently, their shoulders shaking with the effort of trying to keep silent. Suddenly a figure stepped out from the shadows.

"Would you like to come with me to get stronger?" a melodic lilting voice floated over to them, making them stiffen.

Instantly they were on the alert, pulling out their weapons. "Who are you?" Tenten asked, suspicious of the unknown figure. Reaching up with her hand, the figure pulled back her hood and let her face be shown, making the girls gasp.

The woman had shining ebony hair up in a French braid and piercing blue eyes, set in a well-structured face. Her skin was pale, but instead of looking sickly, it simply glowed, giving her the appearance of an ethereal being. The black cloak did a shabby job of hiding her obviously good figure. She was around the same age as Kakashi.

"My name is Higurashi Kagome. I have heard your cries, Yamanaka Ino, Haruno Sakura, Tenten and Hyuuga Hinata. I can make you stronger."

Hinata stepped forward this time and spoke with no stutter, only determination. "Will we be allowed to come back to the village?" Kagome smiled.

"Whenever you like." She said, only truthfulness in her voice. The four girls looked at each other and nodded. Whatever was about to happen would make them stronger. They would not regret. Anything to make it so that they would never be called weak again.

Kagome nodded in return and turned, walking away. "I'll give you till sunset to pack, say your goodbyes and meet me at the gates of Konoha. Sakura, Ino, Tenten and Hinata went their separate ways, to go say goodbye to the people that didn't believe in them.

_Sakura…_

I walked over to the usual meeting spot for Team Seven and immediately Naruto glomped me, shouting things about how I was late and he was worried. I smiled inwardly. Naruto was the one teammate I would miss a lot, along with Kakashi-sensei. They may have thought I was weak, but at least they tried to get me stronger and tried to protect me.

"Hey…" Everyone stopped to look at me, surprised that I was talking in such a serious tone. "Would you miss me if I left?"

"What are you talking about Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked, smiling goofily. "You'll never leave us, right?" I could only smile weakly and nod, knowing that I was lying to a person I cared about.

"Hn. Who the hell cares? She's dead weight and weak. No one needs her." Sasuke stated monotonously. I could feel the tears building up in my eyes, but I kept them hidden, not wanting to show weakness in front of the man I still loved, no matter how much he broke my heart.

"I see." I could only whisper. "Well then, from this day on I won't drag you down anymore." I turned and started to walk away, but then I felt a warm, comforting hand on my shoulder. I looked up and saw Kakashi-sensei staring at me with concern.

"Sakura…is something wrong?" he asked, with genuine kindness. Before I could think I had given him a hug and let the tears overflow. Then I pulled away and gave him a watery smile.

"I'll never forget you Kakashi-sensei. Thanks for everything." I walked away and I knew. Kakashi-sensei, my brother-figure, knew what I was going to do. But he didn't stop me. Maybe he knew that I would be happier this way. But I think that he also knew that I was coming back.

I walked away with my back straight and my head held high.

_Ino…_

I was standing with my team, waiting for Asuma-sensei to show up so that I could say my goodbyes. Chouji must have sensed my distress because he held out a chip to me. This was an important gesture because Chouji would only give out chips to his most trusted friends.

"Are you okay Ino?" he asked me. Before I could answer, Shikamaru interrupted, despite the 'troublesomeness' of it to do so.

"Chouji, forget it. She's probably just being her normal annoying self." I could only feel myself grow angrier with each word he said. By this time Asuma had arrived, but I didn't care as I yelled at my teammate, tears falling freely down my face.

"FINE! SINCE I'M SO ANNOYING, I QUIT!"

"Quit?" Asuma asked me, confusion.

"YES! I QUIT THIS GODDAMN ANNOYING TEAM!" With that I stormed off. I didn't look back. Nor did I care whether or not they took me seriously because I knew that what I was going to do would make me stronger and prove them all wrong. I would not be weak anymore.

_Tenten…_

I walked up to Gai-sensei, Lee and Neji calmly, not betraying the myriad of emotions rolling in my gut. I stopped and gave Gai and Lee a smile, wishing I could stay but knowing I couldn't. Not if I wanted to make them stop seeing me as weak and pathetic.

"Hey, I just wanted to say thank you for everything." I told them quietly. Gai and Lee gave me a thumbs up complete with a sparkling smile. I smiled back and left. Neji never looked at me once.

_Hinata…_

Their sympathy was suffocating. I only fell down and got a scratch on my hand but immediately they sent me home. I watched as my sister sparred with my father. She too ignored me like the rest of the family. I had already said goodbye to Naruto. Somehow I don't think I was in love with him anymore.

"Hinata! Come here now." I quickly ran to my father's side, not wanting to make him angrier. "You see your sister is making more progress than you are even though you are older and have rained longer. I think it's safe to say that she will take over as the head of the Hyuuga clan in your stead."

My eyes widened. But then my eyes dulled and I heard myself say yes father before I left the Hyuuga training grounds, going to my room and packing.

_Sunset…_

Kagome was waiting at the gates like she had promised. The five of them left together, never once looking back. After all, who would care? They were four kunoichi with a mission and a trainer that promised to guide them, make them stronger.

Higurashi Kagome would make them stronger.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two:**

_Three years later…_

_Ages:_

_Sakura- 16_

_Ino- 16_

_Hinata- 16_

_Tenten-17_

_Rookie Nine Boys- 16_

_Neji and Lee- 17_

_Kakashi- 26_

_Kagome- 25_

Four kunoichi suddenly appeared on top of the massive gates of Konoha, overlooking the village.

"It's good to be back." One figure said, her face hidden by a long black cloak.

"Yes. It is." A quiet voice agreed, also covered with a long black cloak. In fact, all of them were covered with cloaks, keeping their faces, and identity hidden. The only thing that you could see was that they were all relatively the same height and build.

"We have to go to the Hokage's office now." A third figure called to the other three who nodded and disappeared in a swirl of leaves. All that was left was an eerie silence and the guards at the front gates wondering why they felt the brief passings of chakra. They shrugged it off. After all, they did live in a shinobi village full of ninjas that had enormous chakra capacity.

_Hokage's Office…_

Tsunade sat in her chair, surprisingly sober, reading over the latest letter her apprentice had sent her. She could barely stop herself from shaking in excitement. _'SAKURA AND THE OTHERS ARE COMING HOME!'_ She screamed inwardly, not completely able to stop an insane grin from spreading over her face.

A tapping sound at her window startled her out of her reverie and she turned and scowled at Kakashi.

"What do you want Hatake?" she growled out, wanting him out of her office as soon as possible so that she could prepare for the kunoichi.

"What's the rush?" Kakashi asked, raising an eyebrow as he saw her clear out all the sake bottles on her desk and put away papers as fast as she could. She stopped and looked at him. She appeared to be contemplating something.

"Do you miss Sakura?" Kakashi let himself stiffen as he thought of his student.

"Why do you ask?" he asked her, suspicious. Tsunade shrugged.

"She's coming back." Silence. Then suddenly:

"_**WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT?!?!?!??!?!?!?" **_

The scream could be heard from all over Konoha and Naruto and Sasuke looked up from training briefly to wonder if someone had burned their sensei's books again, but shrugged it off and resume attacking each other.

Gai was screaming about how his rival had finally gotten into the 'youth' fad while Neji just rolled his eyes at his teacher and kept training with Lee.

Shikamaru and Chouji, along with Kiba and Shino just shrugged it off, not concerning themselves with the scream of surprise.

_Back in the office…_

"You mean to tell me that you have had contact with my student through all three of these years and didn't bother to tell me?!" Kakashi asked the Hokage, his voice deceptively calm. Tsunade had nervous beads of sweat rolling rapidly down the side of her face but nodded. "I see." Kakashi said. Then he bowed to her and said, "Excuse me for a moment Hokage-sama."

He walked out the office calmly, but Tsunade distinctly heard crashes, yells, screams for mercy and she swore she even heard the tell-tale clunks of kunai hitting…something.

Kakashi walked back in calmly and took a seat in the chair in front of Tsunade's desk. She scooted back in her chair a little to get away from the…dangerous man in front of her.

"When?" he asked. Tsunade cleared her throat.

"Today." Just before Kakashi could reply, both he and Tsunade sensed foreign presences in her office and leapt up, kunai in hand.

"Who's there?" Tsunade questioned harshly, directing her question to the small, dark corner right next to her door.

"Aw…shishou, didn't you miss me?" Only one person called her shishou.

"S…Sakura?" Tsunade asked, her voice barely above a whisper. A figure melted out of the shadows and stepped towards the Hokage and Kakashi, pulling down her hood to reveal stunning emerald eyes and shocking pink hair.

"I'm home." She was promptly tackled by a crying Hokage that was overjoyed. Kakashi stood back and watched the scene with a smile.

"No hello for us?" a voice chuckled. Tsunade turned around and faced the other three cloaked figures. They also lowered their hoods and she was faced with the familiar, nostalgic faces of Tenten, Ino and Hinata.

Tenten had let her hair stay down, which complimented her tan face and hazel eyes. Over time, it had grown longer until it was almost to her waist, and all the baby fat from her face had melted away, leaving graceful features.

Ino's blond hair stayed short but her blue eyes had changed. Instead of carefree, she was now more awake to the world, knowing that everything wasn't about a boy or safe.

Hinata seemed more confident, and everything showed that fact such as her stance and her smile. Her hair had grown out and her eyes seemed to examine everything in the room subtly but still managed to look as if she were perfectly at ease.

Sakura had changed a lot, instead of being cheery to a point where it was annoying, she was now more at ease and had more of a mischievous and mysterious smile on her elegant face.

The four kunoichi looked at Tsunade and spoke in unison, "We're home, Hokage-sama." Tsunade almost- AND I SAY ALMOST –cried but kept her cool, standing tall and proud like the leader of a village should.

"Welcome back. II assume your teacher came back along with you?"

"Teacher?" Kakashi asked, surprised. The four looked at him in disbelief.

"You thought we would go into the wild, alone, inexperienced…_**without**_ someone to help us or teach us to be stronger?" Sakura asked, exasperated. Kakashi nodded, making them all sweatdrop.

"So where is he?" Kakashi asked, inadvertently drawing forth glares from all of the females.

"_**She**_," Ino said, emphasizing the 'she', "is right above us." Tsunade and Kakashi almost threw a fit, looking up and seeing a woman dangling lazily from her feet, reading a…familiar-looking book.

"Yo." Tsunade looked from Kakashi to Kagome, a knowing smirk on her face. Kagome flipped down from the ceiling and landed lightly on her toes, not making a sound.

"And you are?" Tsunade asked amusedly, raising an eyebrow at the mask that covered the bottom part of Kagome's face. In fact, from her clothes to her book, she was a female version of Kakashi.

Kakashi saw Kagome and did a double take. "Somehow…I feel kinda ripped off and cheated…" he mumbled under his breath.

"I'm Higurashi Kagome. Also known as the leader of the Band of Ten."

"THE BAND OF TEN?! THE ELITE ASSASSIN BAND THAT MADE A DEBUT PERFORMANCE IN THE LAND OF MISTS WHEN THEY ASSASSINATED ONE HUNDRED PEOPLE IN SECONDS?!" Tsunade questioned in a sharp voice.

The four girls nodded while Kagome stuck her nose back into her book. Tsunade was speechless for a scant few seconds while Kakashi took a page from Kagome's book…or his own…and also went back to reading.

"Ano…shishou…aren't we going to be tested or anything?" Tsunade raised an eyebrow and turned to Kagome who was regarding her with a calculating yet bored look out of the corner of her eye.

"What level would you say they are?" Tsunade asked, curious.

"ANBU at least. Sannin at most." Tsunade's eyes widened dramatically and her jaw hit the floor. Next to her, Kakashi had fallen over on the floor immobilized from shock.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three:**

_**Recap:**_

_"What level would you say they are?" Tsunade asked, curious. _

_"ANBU at least. Sannin at most." Tsunade's eyes widened dramatically and her jaw hit the floor. Next to her, Kakashi had fallen over on the floor immobilized from shock. _

_**End Recap**_

Kagome gave them cool looks, raising an eyebrow. "Is it really so surprising? These kunoichi have shown more promise than anyone I have ever taught in many, many years."

Sakura, Ino, Tenten and Hinata seemed to draw themselves up in pride as she spoke these words, looking pleased that she was complimenting them. Tsunade quickly recovered from her shock, and grinned down at the four kunoichi in pride. Then an evil smirk made its way onto her face when she got a pleasantly EVIL idea to make the boys see the four kunoichis' real strength.

"Girls…I think it's time you showed Konoha and those idiotic councilmen that you aren't merely dead weight." She stated with a malicious smirk. Kakashi and Kagome shivered when the four girls just smirked back.

Slowly, they inched back when Tsunade and the four girls started to cackle.

_The training grounds…_

Sasuke, Naruto, Neji, Lee, Shino, Kiba, Shikamaru, Chouji, Asuma, Kurenai and finally Gai were standing at the training grounds, waiting impatiently for the Hokage to arrive.

"Neh Sasuke, why did the Hokage call us here?" Naruto whined, earning him a hit from his teammate.

"How the hell should I know? Dobe." Suddenly, seven figures appeared in a swirl of leaves, making every shinobi tense.

"Calm down, it's only me." Tsunade called, trying to keep a smirk off her face when the others glanced distrustfully at the other five figures in cloaked in black robes, keeping their faces hidden. Kakashi put up his hand in the familiar greeting to his team and walked over to join them.

"Uchiha! Uzumaki! Front and center!" Tsunade barked, delighted when the two hurried over, not wanting to risk her wrath. "These are five new kunoichi that want to join our village. They are not spies and you are to test their level."

Sasuke smirked superiorly. "Which one first?" He was taken aback when Tsunade let out a laugh.

"You two are not fighting all of them. You and Uzumaki both are fighting **one **of them." Sasuke and Naruto started to protest but froze at the sight of Tsunade's icy glare. Up stepped one of the kunoichi, and Sasuke and Naruto observed her at a fair distance, deciding that due to her small frame this would be an easy fight.

Sakura had been the one to step forward and her eyes gleamed in anticipation for the match to start. Tsunade yelled for them to go and immediately, Sakura shot forward, invisible to the naked eye due to her amazing speed. Kakashi had already unveiled his Sharingan, wanting to see if there were any special techniques that he could copy. He could just barely see the after-images Sakura left as she ran.

Sasuke and Naruto stood there, stunned for a moment because of her unexpected speed. Sakura appeared behind them, and did a sweeping kick, knocking them flat on their asses. Sasuke and Naruto recovered quickly, jumping up and going back to back, in order to protect themselves from all directions. Naruto performed the hand-seals for Rasengan while Sasuke already had a Chidori in his hand.

"Too slow." Sakura whispered into their ears, and they looked around wildly only to find that there was two Sakuras, one in front of each of them. Running forward, she punched both of them with inhuman strength, making them fly back only for them to poof away, a log appearing in their place.

"Damn! Substitution jutsu." She growled, looking left, right, behind and up to try in find them. When they weren't in all these places, she punched the ground, making it split open, revealing the two ninjas. Naruto sprang into action, creating fifty or more shadow clones of himself while Sasuke drew his short katana (yes he has it, but he didn't get it from Orochimaru) and powered it up with a Chidori.

They leapt at her while Tsunade gestured for Shikamaru and Chouji to step forward onto the training grounds next to the one they were standing in and fight Ino. She did the same for Tenten and Hinata also, Tenten fighting Neji and Lee while Hinata fought Kiba and Shino. The last cloaked figure, Kagome simply made Kage Bunshins of herself so she could watch all four matches at once.

_Ino…_

Ino grinned underneath her cloak at Shikamaru and Chouji, who were looking at her with suspicion.

"I don't know what Hokage-sama is thinking, but I sure as hell don't trust you." Shikamaru said, narrowing his eyes when her shoulders shook with laughter. Asuma yelled for them to go and Ino used her modified Mind transfer justu to peer into Shikamaru's mind, to see what he would do. This jutsu was one that she had made up herself, able to peer into her opponent's mind without actually transferring her mind into theirs.

Shikamaru already had thirteen different plans thought out and Ino sighed. There were too many options that he could choose from and she pulled her concentration from his mind just in time to duck from a huge hand that came flying her way. Chouji then drew his spiky hair up around himself and it turned razor-sharp, making Chouji a rapidly spinning ball of mass-destruction. Ino sighed and simply put up a chakra-enhanced finger to stop him.

She nearly gasped when she found she couldn't move and looked down to see shadow hands binding her legs and climbing up to choke her. Abruptly, she let out a strong wave of chakra, which dispelled Shikamaru's jutsu and she jumped just in time to avoid the spiky ball of death that was Chouji, flipping a couple times in the air before landing lightly on her feet.

"I guess it's time to get serious." Ino muttered, smirking.

_Tenten…_

Tenten wasted no time on words, and simply ran forwards with equal speed as Sakura, flinging many weapons. Neji used his Kaiten to block all of them, smirking. Lee simply avoided them. They looked at Tenten smugly.

Boy were they surprised when she started to form one-handed seals. Finishing, she slammed her hands on the ground and yelled, "**Earth element: **_**Holy Cross!**_"

Neji and Lee were about to jump out of the way of a large, sharp cross made out of pure earth which was heading straight for them, but found themselves to be immobilized. They looked down at their stuck feet and saw that there were chakra strings attached to their feet, leading from Tenten's thrown weapons. Then they followed an impossibly thin chakra string to her fingers. The cross slammed into them and started to cover them in an earthy coffin.

_Hinata…_

Hinata bowed before starting her fight. "I hope we have a good match." She said softly. Kiba and Shino looked hesitant, but they bowed back. Then Kurenai shouted for them to go and Hinata started to circle them, only after-images of her being seen. Kagome, however, thought differently.

"Mouse! Your right side is unprotected! Keep your guard up at all times!" Hinata nodded.

"Hai, sensei." Then she went back to circling them. Kiba and Akamaru leapt for her, but they were too slow and only caught her after-image. Shino had his bugs out, circling him so he was protected from all sides. Or what he thought was all sides.

Seeing the opening, Hinata slipped underground and fired a fireball at Shino from under him, succeeding in singing him before he jumped away, his bugs surrounding him so he would be protected. Shino and Kiba attacked Hinata at the same time, Kiba using his Gatsuuga and letting Shino stay back while he let his bugs surround Kiba and Akamaru's attack.

Hinata simply used a transportation jutsu to move to the other side of the training field, letting Gatsuuga attack empty space and repeating the process over and over. Shino quickly ran forward to attack her in taijutsu, but unfortunately for him, she excelled in it and quickly had a kunai to his throat. For Kiba, she had successfully tied him and Akamaru up with chakra ropes.

_Sakura…_

Sakura was just finishing up when Hinata, carrying Shino and Kiba, walked into her training grounds where she was currently fighting with Sasuke and Naruto. Giving her a grin, she finished by punching Naruto straight in the face and knocking him out, and for Sasuke she simply put him in a genjutsu.

It wouldn't have been anything that he couldn't take if it wasn't for the blinding pink everywhere and frills and lace binding him and slowly choking him to death…while singing the Barney song.

"Kill me. Kill me now." Sasuke muttered, passing out from shock. Sakura giggled and went over to stand next to Tsunade and the real Kagome. Now they were just waiting for Tenten and Ino, who both showed up a minute later, dragging their ex-teammates behind them.

Sakura got to work, reviving the unconscious people, and soon they were faced with the big question, "Who the hell are you people?!"

Sakura, Ino, Tenten and Hinata looked to Kagome for reassurance and gave her shaky smiles when she nodded. In unison, they reached up and pulled back their hoods, eliciting gasps from everyone except Kagome, Kakashi and Tsunade.

_**"INO?!"**_

_**"TENTEN?!"**_

_**"HINATA?!"**_

_**"SAKURA?!" **_


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four:**

_**Recap:**_

_"INO?!"_

_"TENTEN?!"_

_"HINATA?!"_

_"SAKURA?!" _

_**End Recap**_

"It was you girls fighting us?!?!?!?" Kiba practically shouted, his eyes wide. The other seven boys were not better off. Even Shino had his eyes widened, although it was less noticeable.

The four girls smirked at the boys, and their ex-senseis were now looking at Kagome with suspicion.

"And who are you? KURENAI IN DISGUISE?!" Asuma asked.

"Hello? I'M RIGHT HERE!" Kurenai shouted, slapping him upside the head. Kagome reached a hand up and elegantly (yeah, she didn't just take off her hood, she did it ELEGANTLY!) threw off her hood, revealing long, ebony hair, pale skin, glowing sapphire eyes and a face mask.

Kurenai, Gai and Asuma looked from Kakashi to Kagome, seeing the same slouch, mask and book held in front of their faces. Kurenai and Asuma fainted. Gai shouted.

"**HOW YOUTHFUL AND COOL IT IS FOR YOU TO HAVE SOMEONE WHO ADMIRES YOUR YOUTH SO MUCH THAT THEY COPY THE LEGENDARY COPY-NIN! I ENVY YOU MY ETERNAL RIVAL! THE FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH IS TRULY SHINING UPON YOU NOW! YOUTHHHHHHHHHH**!"

Kakashi looked up from his book with a bored face. "Hm? Did you say something?"

Gai started to sob and yell things about how he would one day beat his eternal rival. Kagome pulled down her mask and started to laugh at the situation, while the others gaped. (It's really hard to laugh in a mask I think, because there's a cloth mask blocking your breathing, when god knows it's already hard enough to breathe while you're laughing your ass off)

When Kagome was finally done laughing her ass off, she noticed that everyone was staring at her except for her students, who had already seen her face. "What?"

Naruto had a very red face. "You're so pretty nee-chan."

Kagome gave him a smile. "Why thank you. What's your name?" Every guy was practically hyperventilating when they saw her smile.

"N-N-Naruto." Kagome walked up to him and crouched.

"Why do you have a fox aura?" she whispered into his ear. He stiffened and looked up at her with fear. She chuckled at ruffled his hair.

"Don't worry. You don't have to tell me." He sighed in relief. Every guy was still staring at Kagome, while Kurenai was talking to Tsunade. She looked up in irritation when she saw Asuma still staring at Kagome.

"Put your eyeballs back in your head!" she hissed at him, slapping the back of his head and bringing him back to reality. Kagome pulled her mask back up and looked at the guys. Kakashi, Asuma, Neji, Sasuke and Shikamaru had a light blush over their faces while Kiba's face was all red. Naruto and Chouji were just sitting and talking while Shino just stood there impassively.

"My name is Higurashi Kagome." Just as she finished saying that, she pulled out a hidden katana out of her sleeve and blocked a blow from a white, elegant-looking sword, held by a regal-looking man in white, his silvery-white hair almost brushing the floor.

"Good to see you haven't lost your touch sister." Kagome calmly dodged more strikes that came from behind her, and soon she was surrounded by two more men and two more women.

One of the men had auburn hair, tied into a low ponytail and mischievous green eyes. He grinned at Kagome, retracting his claws and giving her a light hug. Almost every guy in the training field gave him an evil glare when he did.

The other man had long black hair held up in a ponytail and blue eyes, much like Kagome, only he was dressed in some fur of some sort with armour covering it and he had larger-than-normal canines.

Standing next to the ebony-haired, blue-eyed man was a woman with auburn hair and she was also dressed in furs and amour, although her furs were white and her hair was held up in pigtails, a white flower pinned onto one of them.

The last girl seemed to be around the same age as the Rookie Nine, and she was very similar looking to Kagome, only her eyes were a warm hazel and she was dressed in a white and orange kimono.

The first man who had attacked Kagome introduced himself as Sesshomaru and Tsunade gasped when she realized he was the Lord of the Western Lands. The second was Shippo, followed by Kouga, Ayame and Rin.

"Hokage-sama, meet the Band of Ten." Kagome said, gesturing to the new arrivals that surrounded the four kunoichi and gave them light hugs.

"I only see six of you." Sasuke said, narrowing his eyes when he realized that his presence as the last Uchiha had been looked over. Kagome levelled him with a cool look.

"The Band of Ten includes the four kunoichi you abandoned." Most regarded the four kunoichi with amazed looks, but Sasuke simply scoffed.

"They are too weak to be part of the famous assassin group."

"Oh really?" Kagome asked amusedly. "Then who was the kunoichi that knocked you flat on your ass and made you pass out?"

Sasuke nearly blushed in embarrassment, but covered it by folding his arms and putting on a superior look. "I was going easy on her."

Kagome rolled her eyes and stopped Sakura from running forwards with a look. The meaning was obvious: You are a respectable kunoichi and should not lower yourself to his level. Sakura nodded stiffly and did not move from her position and let Kagome talk to Tsunade about letting the Band of Ten stay in Konoha temporarily.

Tsunade looked at her with wide eyes. "Are you insane?! I wouldn't say no, even if I didn't want you here! You are the most feared and respected assassin group in the lands which will boost Konoha's reputation plus you could probably kill me if I said no." Sesshomaru raised a delicate eyebrow and smirked.

"Well…it seems at least one of these humans are smart." He commented lazily. Kagome, Rin, Ino, Tenten, Hinata and Sakura gave him evil glares at his comment and he quickly amended it by adding them to his group of 'smart humans'.

"WHOA! WAITWAITWAITWAIT. You mean that Sakura-chan, Ino, Tenten and Hinata are in a famous assassin group?!" Naruto shouted, his brain finally processing the new information after he had gotten over the fact that Sakura was back, she had kicked his ass, and she had kicked his ass while fighting Sasuke.

Sighs came from the girls. Tsunade motioned Kagome over and whispered something in her ear. Kagome nodded.

"I'll see you guys later." With that, she and the Hokage disappeared in a swirl of leaves, leaving the others in an awkward silence.

----

"Kagome-san, what was the purpose of bringing these girls back to Konoha? Today especially?" Tsunade asked Kagome, calmly sipping some tea.

"The four girls are powerful, yes. But they have weaknesses, and their biggest was what haunted them back in Konoha. I decided it was time for them to face their fears. What they really need right now is to receive the acknowledgement that they were denied so many years ago." Kagome replied, looking out the window of the Hokage's office and smiling softly. "What they need is to be reminded that they won't be replaced."

Tsunade stared at the younger woman who had spoken words of wisdom that seemed to be millenniums beyond her age. Slowly, she stared back into her teacup.

"I think that if they had never come back, they would have lived their life regretting. I personally think that no one should have to go through life with only regrets because they were too scared to face their fears."

Tsunade's eyes widened and she looked down at the picture of her old team. _'No regrets…huh…'_

Suddenly Kagome stiffened and put her cup back onto the table, grumbling. "I swear…can't not get into trouble for two seconds…only gone for a minute…" she muttered.

"What's wrong?"

"Someone's attacking my students."

_Back at the training grounds…_

"I can't believe we're still not strong enough to defeat these guys!" Tenten gritted out, blocking an attack by Kisame's Samehada. Kagome appeared quickly at the edge of the grounds.

"What the hell is going on here?" she asked calmly and with hidden fury at the sight of her student's injuries.

"It's that damn Akatsuki! They came out of nowhere demanding the Kyuubi!" Sakura yelled, engaging Itachi in a taijutsu match. Kagome looked over Deidara, Itachi, Sasori and Kisame with a raised eyebrow. Then she scoffed.

"Weak…" she turned and made to walk away but Itachi's eyes had narrowed with anger at her comment and he surged forwards with the intent to kill her. Before he could even touch her however, he found his kunai parried by Hinata whose face was hard.

"You shall not hurt my mentor." Kagome turned and fixed Itachi with such a cold look that he found himself recoiling in surprise.

"It's cowardly to attack someone who's back is turned." She stated. "Hinata, I could have handled it." A clink of metal drew everyone's attention to her hands and everyone but her students and the Band of Ten took a step back in surprise. She held in her hands a long, wickedly sharp silver scythe, not unlike Hidan's only hers only had one long blade.

And holy shit did it look dangerous.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five:**

"Ano sa…Kagome-chan, how did you know that the Akatsuki were attacking?" Naruto asked with a curious smile on his face. His eyes seemed glued to her very sharp-looking scythe. Kagome chuckled and he blushed, his eyes snapping up from her scythe to her laughing face before he blushed and looked away.

"I got a call." She said, gesturing to the pink jewel, the Shikon no Tama, resting on her collarbone. It was glowing brightly, almost painfully against her pale white skin.

Ino blushed. "Sorry I called you here, sensei. I didn't think that the Konoha-nins and us could take the four. Plus, you know that Sesshomaru, Kouga, Ayame, Rin and Shippo all think of us as amusement, so they wouldn't have helped until our wounds were fatal..." Kagome raised an eyebrow and glared at the five mentioned above and they winced, giving her sheepish smiles. Well, Sesshomaru pretty much stood there, looking calm and unaffected.

"Oh really? Maybe I should show them exactly why they should help me apprentices out…" Kagome said, advancing towards the terrified five. The flinched when she cracked her knuckles and even Sesshomaru took a teensy tiny step back when Kagome glared at all of them. Then she turned back to Ino and patted her on the head (by the way, this would have looked really comical if there was an anime of this, because Kagome and Ino are pretty much the same height…), smiling.

"Good thing you called me, or my precious little trainees would have gotten hurt." She teased, laughing at the way Ino flushed in embarrassment but didn't remove her hand from her head. She then turned to Itachi and her facial expression changed so drastically it left the four Akatsuki members reeling back in shock and slight fear. Which is what pretty much everyone would do if you had seen Kagome's expression…

Quick as lightning, Kagome ran forwards and slashed at them with her scythe, barely missing the other three while Kisame brought up his Samehada in the nick of time, saving him from a rather messy decapitation.

"Shit! Uchiha you coward!" he yelled, straining from the weight of the wicked-looking scythe. Itachi appeared behind him and Kisame was forced to jump up in order to avoid a slice from Itachi's kunai.

"Who are you calling a coward?" he hissed in cold fury, his Sharingan eyes glaring up at the blue-skinned Akatsuki member. Kisame chuckled nervously.

"Just kidding, Uchiha-san. No need to get PMS-y." Itachi whipped around faster than you can say, "Oh shit he's pissed!". Actually, a lot of people can turn faster than that…moving on…

"What did you say?" he spat. Looking down disgustedly at his cowering partner, he scoffed. "Never mind. Let's retreat for now."

"But-" Deidara tried to protest but was cut off by Itachi's spectacularly done death glare. Sasori slapped his partner upside the head with his metal puppet tail and walked past him, not even batting an eyelash.

"Hurry up, idiot. You know I don't like to wait." Deidara glared reproachfully at his partner's back but got up, muttering curses.

"Stupid Sasori-danna…."

Sasuke, Lee, Kiba and Naruto looked as if they were going to go after the four when the four girls appeared in front of them, stopping them.

"What do you think you're doing-" They tried to protest but the four girls cut them off.

"If they were not meant to go, Kagome-sensei would not have let them go." They stated, all eerily in perfect synch.

The tension built in the air until Kakashi stepped in between them all. "Mah, mah, let's just all calm down and not fight." Kagome sighed and placed a hand on both Sakura and Hinata's head.

"Come on. I'll treat you guys." She said, steering them in the direction of the market. The four smiled up at her and she glanced over her shoulder to the Rookie 9, Gai's team, the senseis and lastly, the rest of the Band of Ten. "Well? Aren't you guys coming?"

They stared after her in shock and it as only when the Band of Ten started to follow her did they snap out of the daze they put themselves in once they heard her words and followed after her hurriedly. Surprise, surprise.

It was an even bigger surprise (not.) when they found her sitting and laughing with the four girls in Ichiraku's. She looked as if she had been in Konoha all her life instead of just a couple hours. Sasuke looked at her suspiciously.

"How did you find the one food stall that everyone in our group goes to?" he asked, narrowing his eyes when he saw the too-innocent look on her face.

She smirked. "Skill." He face-faulted…or at least, he would have, had he not been an Uchiha.

"Are you sure you haven't been in Konoha before?" he asked, still suspicious and with his eyes still narrowed. She raised an eyebrow and got a supremely wicked idea.

"Well…I did come here once…" He looked triumphant. "Five hundred years ago to be exact." Now he really did fall off his chair.

"WHAT?" His voice carried over the entire stall and everyone stopped what they were doing to turn and look at him and Kagome. Sasuke was breathing hard, and his face was entirely red from his outburst. In fact, he looked royally flustered.

"Calm down…" She glanced slyly over at Sakura who was having a happy reunion with her ex-sensei and even the boy who had replaced her during her absence. Sai…something. "Or should I call Sakura over here to do it." Kagome smirked at him when she saw his eye twitch. Whether it was in irritation or something else, no one would ever know.

"Shut up…" he muttered half-heartedly. He got up from his seat and was about to place down some money for the ramen when Kagome stopped him.

"My treat."

"Che." He stuffed his hands in his pockets and strode out, pushing away the flaps of the exit carelessly. Kagome stared after him with a knowing smile. Sakura by then had already finished her conversation with her sensei and that infuriating bastard that kept calling her ugly, and made her way over to Kagome, only to see her sensei smirking and her ex-teammate leaving.

"Eh? Why did Sasuke leave?" she asked, clueless. Kagome smiled.

"A little birdie made him realize something."

Sakura, if it was possible, was even more confused by Kagome's answer. "What? Birdie? Realize? Kagome-sensei, you're making no sense." Kagome smile mysteriously, not that you could tell, what with her face being covered by the face mask.

"Exactly."

_The next day…_

Kagome met up with all the others and they were shocked to see that her Kakashi-like clothes had been replaced with simple black pants, a simple black top and her hair tied up with a black band of ribbon, her face mask gone.

"Eh? What happened to your clothes?" Naruto asked. Kagome gave a sheepish laugh and rubbed the back of her neck.

"Heh, those clothes were something Sakura dared me to do, because she wanted to see how Hatake-san would react to her new sensei being so similar to her old sensei." She said, and they all sweatdropped.

"No way…" Two arms wrapped around Kagome and she laughed when the others tensed up at the intruder.

"Shippo, what are you doing?" Shippo buried his face in her hair and sighed.

"I'm so bored, okaa-san."

"OKAA-SAN?" The others practically screamed.

Kagome looked as if she had just remembered something important. "Ah! Didn't I tell you? Shippo is my adopted son." They face-faulted at her obliviousness.

"HOW CAN YOU FORGET SOMETHING LIKE THAT?" They asked her, but by then Shippo had already pulled her away, muttering in her ear as she nodded occasionally. When he finished, she had this strange gleam in her eyes. It produced a mixture of fear, weariness and hesitation in the usually-cool shinobi.

"Hey, will you all do me a favour?" Kagome asked, and they were all too scared to turn her down so they nodded. "Good." Just the word "good" made them cringe.

Kakashi popped in with a poof of smoke. "Yo! Good morning." He looked at the odd scene before him and sweatdropped. "Ano…did I miss something?"

Kagome skipped over to him. "Hatake-san, perfect timing."

Now he was sweating nervously. "Perfect timing? Perfect timing for what?"

Kagome only grinned evilly.

"Tell me, why am I here again?" Kakashi muttered. He was currently tied to a wooden post with an apple above his head.

"Oh shush you." Kagome muttered. She turned to the others with a happy face. "Now. Let's have a little contest. Whoever manages to shoot the apple on the top of Hatake-san's head with that arrow wins. The losers have to do whatever the winners say for an entire month. Now, who's going to take the bet, and who's going to be a chicken?"

Needless to say, all the men were forced to take the bet, or their pride would be on the line. First up was Sasuke. He took the bow awkwardly and managed to shoot southward. Kakashi was shaking, and he now had an arrow lodged just below…there. Neji took the bow next, and pinned Kakashi's left leg to the pole. Lee did the same with the other leg. Naruto hit it way off, shooting far past the post and into the dark forest.

"Oops."

Kiba took the bow next and he was a bit more accurate, but he only hit Kakashi's left sleeve. Shikamaru did the same with the other arm. Shino was the first to hit the apple on the top of Kakashi's silver head.

"Whoo! Go Shino!" Hinata cheered, totally out-of-character. Chouji just said that he gave up and didn't care.

_'Next up are the girls.' _Kagome thought, smirking mentally. This was all part of Shippo's brilliant ploy to reunite the kunoichi with their rightful team. Hinata took the bow and nocked an arrow expertly, the arrow flying gracefully until it hit the apple one millimetre next to Shino's. Sakura, Ino and Tenten did the exact same until there was a tightly packed circle with barely any space inside of it.

Finally Kagome stepped up and shot. Her arrow was streaked with purple miko ki and landed perfectly in the middle of the five other arrows, stabbing through the apple until you could see the tip through the other side of the piece of fruit.

"Perfect. Everything is going according to my plan." She muttered, smirking at the four kunoichi who had huddled together to discuss what they should do with the losing shinobi. Finally they seemed to reach a consensus.

"Okay. You six are going to be our slaves for a week." Sakura announced. They wanted to protest at first but saw Kagome shooting them a death glare out of the corner of their eyes and agreed reluctantly.

"Shikamaru is going to be Ino's slave. Neji and Lee are going to be Tenten's slaves. Kiba is going to be Hinata's slave. And Sasuke and Naruto are going to be mine." Sakura said with relish. The guys looked at each other relieved. What could four weak kunoichi do?

But what they didn't know was what the four "weak" kunoichi were thinking at that exact moment.

_'Just you wait. I'm going to make you pay for making me go through emotional hell.' _The four all thought. Out of nowhere, the six men got chills up and down their back and stared at the four kunoichi suspiciously who did not look innocent at all. In fact, they looked like the Devil's incarnates.

_'Shit.' _They all thought. _'They're going to make our lives hell, aren't they?' _

Kagome looked at them with a triumphant expression. _'Yes, yes they are. And you guys deserve every single moment of it.' _

Kakashi just stood there, still tied to the wooden post. "Um…will someone untie me?" Kagome sighed and flung a kunai at him, cutting the ropes perfectly.

Her next words made him slap his forehead in irritation or just bang it against the wall. "You know, the jutsu to untie ropes is an Academy-level technique, Hatake-san."

Damn her.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six:**

"So, as I was saying, play nicely kiddies! Guys, you have to do what the girls say as long as it does not physically injure you. And no-" Kagome spoke quickly, holding up a hand to stop the protests she knew were to come. "Injuring your pride doesn't count."

Shikamaru, Neji, Kiba, Sasuke and Naruto sulked, groaning in unison. Lee simply started to yell on and on about youth. Tenten's first command was to tell him to go run five hundred laps around the village. He took off with a cry of "Youthhhhh!"

_Ino..._

"I'm kinda thirsty. Go get me a drink, slave," Ino announced, not bothering to keep the satisfied smirk from her face. Shikamaru opened his mouth to protest, but sighed and stood lethargically to get her, her damn drink.

"Troublesome..."

Ino smiled evilly.

It was only the beginning. She had to pay him back for years of suffering that she had gone through, years of doubt and fear of being weak that he had so cruelly put upon her. She had crumbled under that pressure. She had _broken _under that pressure.

Just thinking about what she had gone through, what she had done in order to get herself here, to a place where she could finally throw that she wasn't weak back into his face overwhelmed her with icy anger.

"He'll pay..."

Ino gave a cold smirk.

"He'll regret what he did...I'll make sure of it."

_Tenten..._

"I refuse to take part in this ridiculous charade," Neji stated, turning his back on Tenten. The girl in question smirked, however her eyes were blank and cold.

"Hooo~ the honourable Hyuuga-sama going back on his word? You accepted a challenge, knowing the consequences, and you wish to back out now?" Tenten let her face fall as blank as her eyes. "How very like you, Neji-_chan_."

The sickening honorific that was put on the back of his name made Neji cringe and grow angry. Not only had she insinuated that he had no honour, but she had also flat-out implied that he was a coward.

"I am no coward!" he stated roughly, narrowing his eyes in typical disdain for all whom he thought below him.

Tenten gave no sign that she was cowed by his display. "Then prove it. Keep your word like your father would have before."

She knew it was a low blow but she was beyond caring. He had cut her deeply, and she was only repaying the favour. Neji stiffened and took two intimidating steps towards her, letting her see his snarl up-close.

"Never talk about my father." His voice was low and deadly.

"Then don't disgrace him by walking away, Hyuuga-san."

_Hinata..._

"Inuzuka-san, I would appreciate it if you would come help me deliver some things." Hinata spoke as if she were speaking to a complete stranger; polite, professional and distant.

"Hinata-"

"And please do not refer to me so casually, if you please. I would not like to be reminded of any bonds between us." Hinata's voice was now a touch cooler.

Kiba paused before letting his shaggy hair cover his eyes. "...Okay. I'm sorry, Hyuuga-san that I didn't help you when you were in need and abandoning you when you needed support."

Hinata regarded his bowed head with contemplation. Finally she sighed. "Kiba-san, I do not hold a deep grudge for you. However, I would appreciate it if you would not refer to me as weak. As useless."

"That would be kinda stupid of me when you kicked my ass the other day, wouldn't it?" he asked, smiling.

Hinata gave a miniscule smile in return. "Indeed it would."

Kiba grabbed a couple boxes and straightened, grinning. "So, where to?"

Hinata grabbed a couple also and lead the way for her former-teammate.

As she walked side-by-side with him, she just barely made out the words that were muttered as more of a spoken thought, then something that she was supposed to hear.

"I missed you Hinata..."

_Sakura..._

"So, what do you want us to do, Sakura-chan?"

Sakura barely refrained from wincing.

"First off, don't call me Sakura-chan."

"Okay..." Naruto's dejected look tugged at her heartstrings but she pressed on.

"Secondly, I want you both to get out of my sight."

"...what?" both of her former-teammates spoke in unison, highlighting their shock.

"I said, I don't want to see either of you. Ever."

"B-but-" Sakura cut off Naruto's shocked words.

"I don't know what Kagome-sensei is trying to do, but all I know is that I don't want to ever have to see, speak or hear you guys ever again. I was hurt enough by a cold bastard and a boy who had a crush on me and therefore protected me to the point that I was so weak I might as well have not existed. So I'm telling you both right now, straight to your faces, to get. Out. Of. My. Sight." Sakura ended her speech viciously, turning away from what she could only see as the source of her pain.

"Sakura."

Sasuke's cold voice cut through the still air between the previous Team Seven.

Sakura stopped, but did not turn back around. "Can I help you, Uchiha-san?" Sakura's head turned and they could see that her face was filled with only loathing. "Or should I be calling you **Uchiha-sama**? I'm sure your ego would like that."

Sasuke's smirk was smug. "Calling me Uchiha-sama would only mean to me that you finally know your place."

Her face went completely blank for a split-second before raging fury replaced it. "No, Uchiha, that would only mean that you're deluding yourself. Again." Then she turned to Naruto. "Get out while you can. This bastard doesn't need teammates. He only needs himself."

She left them, standing there.

This time, Sakura noted with satisfaction, they were left staring at her back.

_Hokage's Tower..._

Kagome and Tsunade watched the proceedings through the Sandaime's crystal ball. Tsunade sighed and laced her fingers together, settling her head on top of them.

"I don't understand how this will help them overcome their weaknesses. It seems to me as if they are just taking out their hurt feelings on the boys."

Kagome watched the crystal ball with a thoughtful face. "To be honest, this is me taking a shot in the dark. A leap of faith. Whatever else you can use as a phrase to describe me just randomly pulling this scheme out of my-"

"Tsunade-sama!" Shizune burst into the office with a very high stack of papers that needed signing. Kagome was startled, and when she looked back at Tsunade, the woman was gone, replaced by a straw dummy with a note attached to its head.

"Be back later, don't wait up," Shizune read, before wailing and running out of the office, looking for her wayward master. "Tsunade-samaaaaa!"

Kagome blinked.

Then she shrugged. "Whatever. Not my problem." And she promptly went back to watching the others through the glass ball.

She smiled as she watched each of them, so much more confident than they had been when they had so readily followed her out of Konoha. They had been weak, and broken. Like marionette dolls with their strings cut.

"How you four have grown..."

She remembered when they had been whiny little brats...

Okay they still were kinda whiny and bratty, but they had come a long way from what they used to be. Sure, there had been moments when she had wanted to smack some sense into them in her frustration, but they had taken her teachings and soaked it up like a sponge.

_"Why are we doing this? The guys are probably learning some super cool jutsus and getting stronger and stronger! We don't have time to waste doing meaningless exercises!" Sakura grunted from her position on the floor, counting how many push-ups she had already done aloud._

_ Kagome gave her a once-over with a disinterested look. And promptly went back to her book. _

_ "Hey! Aren't you listening to me?" _

_ The others secretly agreed with Sakura, but were too tired to do much about their annoyance._

_ Kagome finally looked up at the enraged girl and froze her in place with a dark, angry glare. "Tell me something. What is chakra?"_

_ Sakura wiped the stunned expression off her face and started her response mechanically, as if she was reciting something that she had heard so many times that she no longer needed to even think about it. "__Chakra is the resulting energy produced, when Physical and Spiritual energies become mixed together. Hand Seals are then used to harness this energy and expel it out of the body; Usually in the form of some kind of attack."_

_ "Stop." Sakura did, looking a tad surprised. "Now, tell me, in your own words, what the hell you just said."_

_ "Chakra combines both the spiritual aspect and the physical aspect-"_

_ "Exactly." Kagome's triumphant tone made Sakura stop once again. _

_ "Sorry?"_

_ "Chakra is both spiritual and _physical_. The only way that you can get stronger is by strengthening both equally. If I taught you absolutely nothing but jutsus, your spiritual component would grow stronger, but your physical would not. And you must have these exercises become a habit. Once it becomes a habit then you will repeat it as part of a routine, strengthening the physical component every day. This is what will separate you from regular shinobi. A well-developed physical energy source that will compliment your spiritual energy source."_

_ Kagome ended her speech by flopping back and resting on the ground, continuing to read her book. Sakura watched her with wide eyes before nodding and going back to her exercises. _

_ Behind the colourful cover of her book that read, "A Feudal Fairytale" Kagome smiled. It seemed as if the doubt had disappeared. _

_ Now they could finally begin moving forwards. _

They really had come a long way. It was nice to see, Kagome mused with a soft grin on her face. Of course their new maturity hadn't really struck her until a couple months ago...

_"Sensei! You can't be serious!"_

_ Kagome looked them each dead in the eye to show them just how serious she was. "I told you to kill them. And I expect you to follow orders!" she barked out, making each of them jump. _

_ "But you told us that we should never take a life unless it is absolutely necessary!" Ino protested._

_ "And right now, it isn't necessary!" Tenten continued._

_ "We could just drop these missing-nin over in Mist and let them deal with them." Sakura added, hoping to persuade her sensei._

_ "And I'm telling you to kill them. From here on out, it's either you do it, or you don't. So which is it gonna be?" Kagome asked, a no-nonsense look on her face. _

_ For a moment they all stood immobile, as they felt the weight of what their next decision could cost them. A sensei. A pseudo-mother._

_ She had come when they were at their lowest and had offered them a way out. A way to improve themselves so they wouldn't have to feel inadequate, wouldn't have to ever feel weak ever again. She had pushed them to a place in where they had finally come to terms with themselves, accepted that they all had flaws and became stronger for it. _

_ But she had taught them to respect human life._

_ Looking at Ino, Tenten and Sakura in turn, Hinata made her decision and saw the same answer in their eyes. It would probably tear them apart from Kagome. But they would deal with the consequences. _

_ "No."_

_ "No?" Kagome raised an eyebrow._

_ "We won't kill these missing-nin." Hinata spoke with a quiet confidence, not the least bit apologetic for her decision. _

_ They all looked at Kagome, bowing in unison. But when they looked back up, they did not see what they expected to see._

_ They expected disdain._

_Disgust._

_They had even expected for her not to be there anymore._

_But instead, there she stood, looking at them with something strange in her eyes._

_It took them a while to understand, to see what that look meant because it was just so alien to them._

_It was warm and it brought embarrassed but happy flushes to their faces. _

_It was pride._

_Pride in _them_._


End file.
